Between 2009 and 2011, Animal Aid secretly filmed inside nine randomly chosen UK slaughterhouses and found eight of them were breaking animal welfare laws. The on-site vets did not see or report any of the breaches.UK slaughterhouses need independently monitored CCTV cameras to deter welfare abuses and to help vets do their job. The supermarkets agree. The public agrees. Animal protection groups agree. Now please help us persuade the government.

Campaign UpdateThe petition has attracted more than 10,000 signatures and the government has said – as it always has – that it is not convinced of the need for CCTV for two reasons.

1. Welfare requirements are monitored and enforced by Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency to ensure that animals are spared unnecessary suffering, distress or pain during the slaughter process.

This approach has been shown to be wholly inadequate. Vets were present in every slaughterhouse we filmed and none of them saw or reported a single welfare breach, even though we filmed routine and widespread illegal actions. It is clear that vets need help to monitor effectively, and CCTV is a vital tool.

2. Some of the undercover evidence has been gathered in premises which already had CCTV which implies CCTV may not be an effective monitoring tool.

Just one slaughterhouse had CCTV: Cheale Meats, but cameras were not located throughout the slaughterhouse, and none were sited in the stunning and killing areas. We filmed illegal cruelty in these ‘blind’ areas, but also in areas where there were cameras. This suggests that the cameras that were installed were not monitored properly by an independent body.

This is why we need a law which will set out:

Where the cameras are sited

Which independent body will assess segments of footage

How much footage should be viewed from each slaughterhouse

How long the footage must be retained

Please keep signing and sharing the petition! When we reach 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in the House of Commons.